Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Kouen-Chan
Summary: Izuku was old enough to know that memories were fleeting. Love even more so. But that didn't stop him from holding onto the little moments that mattered most. Sidestories from 'The Path to Heaven Begins in Hell' universe. Filled with points from series that isn't mentioned, AUs, and randomness.
1. Irony

**Disclaimer! I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters!**

* * *

"Prayer beads?"

" _ **Yes."**_

Shouta stared at the object forming between his hands. Even after countless amount of time questioning the point of the exercise, there was still no answer to be given.

"But, _prayer beads_?"

" _ **Yes. Now either shut up or I'll shut you up, brat."**_

Flinching slightly, Shouta knew his 'mentor' of sorts was more than a little irritated. Despite it being only a week after his recovery from the incident at USJ, the other vampire had deemed him more than ready for training. In truth, it felt more than a little uncomfortable and awkward for refer the smaller vampire as 'shishou,' but it's not like Shouta had much of a choice…

As he focused on the task at hand – literally – Shouta pondered why in the world he needed prayer beads of all things.

* * *

" _Good. Now form prayer beads."_

" _What?"_

" _Did I stutter? I said form prayer beads."_

" _Okay, I understand that I 'need' to learn how to form weapons with my aura alone, but prayer beads?"_

" _If you can actually do it, I'll tell you. Otherwise, get to work, brat."_

"… _Please stop calling me brat, it feels more than a little weird."_

" _Hmph. I'll call you whatever I want to call you."_

"…"

* * *

Izuku watched his new apprentice attempt to form prayer beads. Pondering over the situation, Izuku could only wonder why he decided to take another apprentice of all things, and a halfling to boot!

Huffing slightly in amusement as the youngling's attempt blew up in his face again, Izuku closed his eyes, using his aura to feel the comforting presence of his own prayer beads.

Strange, wasn't it? Kitsunes have hoshi no tamas, tanukis have … kintamas, ghosts have spirit chains, and werewolves have their curses. Yet, here were vampires with rosaries and prayer beads. The very thing that humans thought would hurt them, along with garlic and stakes.

Izuku snorted at the thought of the middle ages with their attempts to kill his species. Most of the attempts were humorous. Others… not so much.

Thinking about it, Izuku thought about the irony of their chosen item.

After all, how ironic is it that the same thing that humans tried to kill them with is the same thing that keeps them from losing all control?


	2. Technophobe

"-ku! Izuku!"

Izuku snapped out of his trance and raised an eyebrow at the brunette. Lunch had just begun and here he was, getting harassed by children (again).

"Yes?" Izuku prompted Uraraka, "What did you need?"

"Your phone number," the girl began, "I want to add you onto the group chat for the class!"

Izuku stretched, trying to stifle a yawn. He hated being awake during the day, but if he wanted to attend the human education system, he would have to endure.

"I don't have one."

"What about an email?"

"Don't have that either…"

Putting his head down again, Izuku began to doze off, assuming that that was the end of the conversation. No matter how nice he could try to be to these children, they were much too energetic for him.

"EHH?! YOU DON'T HAVE A PHONE OR EMAIL?"

* * *

Katsuki sauntered over to Izuku as soon as he saw that the green-haired boy being dragged into a conversation with the fucking talkative and stupidly cheery brunet.

"EHH?! YOU DON'T HAVE A PHONE OR EMAIL?"

Katsuki shot a questioning look toward Izuku. What the hell was she going on about? It's not like Izuku ever had one in the first place. Nor did he seem to want one either…

"Izu never had one. What the hell are you even screaming for, dammit?!" Katsuki rolled his eyes at Uraraka, as if questioning her intelligence.

"B-but isn't it inconvenient to not have one in this day and age?!"

Scowling at shitty glasses, Katsuki grabbed a seat next to the currently sleeping boy. Idly, he wondered how the hell Izu even managed to sleep through this racket.

"It's not like he ever needs to fucking call anyone. And if it's about that damn group chat again, then count the two of us fucking out. Izu doesn't even own a goddamn cellphone," Katsuki grumbled. Admittedly, it had been a bit of a nuisance in the beginning, but Katsuki had gotten used to it.

Ignoring the others who had started to gather around them and discuss Izuku's lack of a cellphone, Katsuki began to eat his lunch, periodically poking his best friend in attempts to wake him.

* * *

"Huh. You really don't have anything, do you?"

"Shut up," Shishou growled, "What's the point? Human appliances break too easily and you have to pay to even get them to work."

"You don't even have a TV," Shouta pointed out dryly. When he was invited into the other vampire's home, wasn't sure what to expect. The lack of technology was a big surprise, though.

"So? I don't need human entertainment. If I had a choice in it, I wouldn't even have a fridge or stove. Though, the fridge is useful to store blood bags…"

Shouta idly wondered if there was an A/C in the house. Probably, after all, most houses did come with one, along with a fridge and stove.

"Though, I've always wondered, what in all things holy are the weirdly shaped holes in the wall? I've never understood their purpose…"

Holding back his laughter, Shouta wondered if the other vampires were like this too, or was Shishou the only one? He really acted like an old man sometimes…

* * *

"Fox. What is this… Tweeter thing?"

Hitoshi looked up from his phone. Tilting his head, the young kitsune wondered where this conversation was going.

"My… classmates were talking about this thing called… Tweeter, I think, and a fast chat?"

Realizing what the much older supernatural being was talking about, Hitoshi began to snicker in delight. How amusing! It's not every day that one gets to see another being confused by modern social methods.

"I think you're talking about Twitter and SnapChat," Hitoshi forced out between his snickering, "They're both social media."

"Social media?"

"Talking to people over the internet, taking selfies, you know, the usual," Hitoshi elaborated for the confused vampire.

"…What's a selfie?"

"...LOL."

"What?"

Trying to focus on breathing, Hitoshi continued to shake with laughter at the poor, confused vampire. The vampire acted so much like an old man! The kitsune wished he had a recorder with him.

"You're such an old man! Nyehehehehe!"

 **"…Shut up!"**


	3. Yule

**Not canon to the main story! There's a bit of romance, but you can also chalk it up to Izuku's devil-may-care attitude!**

* * *

Snow. How tedious. Izuku sighed as the other students of 1-A moved too and fro around the dorms, setting up decorations and food for the 'Christmas Party.' Ugh.

"Midoriya! Why aren't you helping out?"

Izuku sighed. Yaoyorozu was just being a good class president, he told himself. It's not like she knows how much he hated the holidays.

Moving slowly from this slouching position, he moved over to Shouto, who was helping set up the decorations. Sending a questioning glance at his direction, the duel-haired boy moved closer to Izuku.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just hate this time of the year."

"Why?"

"Too much cheerfulness. Too many bright lights. Unpleasant associations with religion."

"..."

Sighing once again, Izuku moved on to see what Kacchan was doing. On second thought, he could already hear the furious half-whispers of the explosive boy.

"Midoriya-kun! Can you please move the gifts to under the tree?"

"Ah... okay."

Promptly doing so, Izuku began to shift the massive pile of wrapped gifts. Maybe he should have wrapped his gifts as well, Izuku thought to himself before dismissing the thought with a snort. Him? Wrap gifts? Maybe if he'd been a couple thousand years younger.

* * *

"Everyone, are you ready?!"

"YEAH!"

"Get ready, on the count to three!"

Izuku moved to the side, already sensing Toshinori, the youngling, and a couple of others approaching the dorms.

"3!"

Was it too late to back out? Maybe.

"2!"

Why had he done this again? Oh wait, Kacchan and Shouto had ganged up on him with identical determined looks.

"1!"

" **MERRY CHRISTMAS, SENSEI!** "

Izuku flinched slightly, along with Shouta, at the sudden increase in volume and lighting. As confetti flew everywhere, the dorm sparkled with decorations and food for the large group.

"Eh?"

"Wha-?"

As confusion sprung in the group of teachers, Izuku moved over to a more isolated part of the room. Closing his eyes, he decided to contact the kitsune.

 _Kitsune._

 _Eh? Izu-chan?_

 _Did you find the item satisfactory?_

 _Yep! Thank you sooo much! It's so sparkly and pretty!_

 _I'm glad. I thought the form may be too off-putting, but it seems I thought wrong. Limiters are useful for emergency situations, but good ones tend to be rather expensive and difficult to find._

 _Hmm~ I have to go now, but Merry Christmas~_

 _...Merry Christmas._

"-ku. Izuku!"

Jolting a bit, Izuku looked up into Toshinori's face.

"What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, Izuku replied, "Nothing, just talking to someone." Maybe he was more exhausted than he thought. There should be no way a human could sneak up on him like that.

 _Shishou, look above you._

Izuku, confused, tilted his head to face above him. There was a prickly plant of some sort. What exactly was the youngling expecting...?

"W-w-what?!"

At the exclamation from Toshinori, Izuku looked at the skeletal man in confusion. Around him, students and teachers alike began to look in their direction. Just what were they looking at?

As cat calls and wolf whistles began, Izuku watched with half-lidded eyes as Toshinori began to turn red.

"What is with them?"

Izuku muttered to himself, half confused, half irritated.

As he was about to call out to the peanut gallery, Toshinori mumbled something.

"What?"

"I-it's mistletoe..."

"...?"

"W-when two people stand under it, they h-have to k-k-kiss..."

As Toshinori turned even redder, Izuku grinned a bit. Maybe this Christmas Party wouldn't be as useless as he thought.

Facing the blonde-haired hero, Izuku began to stand on his toes, as well as pulling the much taller man closer.

"What?!"

 _ **Chu~**_

Planting a kiss onto Toshinori's lips, Izuku grinned, baring his fangs to the group.

Maybe this Christmas will be one to remember.

 _(If Shouta just happened to sigh and face palm, no one commented on it, as they were too stunned to actually do anything.)_


	4. Kyonshi

**Takes place in the dorms and the students of 1-A know that Izuku is a vampire. I don't know if I want to reveal it by then, but let's assume for now.**

* * *

"Hey, Midoriya. I've been wondering for a while, but... why are you Japanese?"

Izuku looked up from his very-comfortable position of snuggling with (a rather tense) Toshinori. Tilting his head to face the speaker, he made a questioning sound at the strange inquiry.

Kirishima took that as a signal to continue hdis line of thought. "I mean, you're a vampire, right? Isn't that a Western thing?"

Stretching, Izuku got off Toshinori reluctantly. It had been a rather trying day of human cheerfulness and coldness.

"Not really. Just because the word 'vampire' first originated in Europe doesn't mean that the species hasn't existed before then. In fact, vampires in East Asia tend to be misidentified as kyonshi."

"Kyonshi?"

The other children who were previously occupied by other activities began to turn to face the red-eyed creature. Even the youngling, who tended to be too lazy to actually learn at times, began to take some interest.

"Kyonshi are reanimated corpses. They feed off the life energy of the living, usually chi or something. Though, I'm surprised, Kirishima-kun, I wasn't aware that you knew about the origin of vampires."

"Oy, oy, I know I'm not that smart, but I do know how to use the internet."

"The what?"

"...Nevermind."

Izuku raised an eyebrow as he watched half of the inhabitants of the room hold back their laughter. So what if he didn't know what kids these days like? It's not like he'd ever need it...

"Y'know... that's kind of creepy," Toshinori muttered behind him.

"How so?"

"Well, isn't it basically forcing a dead person to come back from his or her resting place?"

"Hmmm... I suppose. Though, they generally don't remember much, and depending on the creator, don't tend to stick around for a long time. They are forced obey their creator, though there are exceptions. It can get a bit complicated."

"I-I see..."

"... Kyonshi aren't as terrifying as they sound, Toshinori-san. In fact, I know a couple of them. Their personality varies based on the creator and themselves back when they were alive."

"Midoriya-kun," Iida began to speak, pausing in his conversation with Uraraka, "You know some kyonshi? What are they like? Are they as old as you are? If so, how are their creators still alive? How are - "

Izuku sighed. As cute as it was that Iida was interested, there was a limit to how much verbal spewing that he could take.

"Yes, they're all a bit different, no, and that's a different matter altogether. The eldest one is about two hundred years old, as a kyonshi. He's a bit... air-headed, you could say, but he's a good friend, I suppose. The other one's are about ten to hundred years old."

As the other students quietly digested the information presented, Izuku turned away from the group, hoping to find something warm to snuggle with. What a curious group of children.

Now that he thought of it... Maybe he should take visit to that air-headed kyonshi. Who knew what that moron might've done by now?

* * *

 **Happy New Years!**


	5. Winter Beauty

Once upon a time, there lived a sad child. The child was very sad, so very sad. But that was okay, the child had thought, oh so long ago, after all, the spirits of my ancestors will watch over me.

As the child grew, he encountered so many different beings. Karasu Tengus that flew around the small village, always so free-spirited, bakenekos that prowled through the nights, searching for something unknown, kappas that crawled around, playing pranks, and yuki-oni, who brought winter's harshest winds to them.

 _Bad luck,_ the villagers would whisper, _He will bring nothing but curses to this village._

He had no parents nor no true home. At nights he slept wherever he could. After all, no one would truly care.

Sometimes, when the youkai would wander into the villages, he would get them to play with him, seeing as no one else would.

Bakenekos would humor the child, chasing him to and fro in the plains that surrounded the village; Yuki-oni sung to him songs of ice and snow, lulling him to sleep even during the harsh winters and cooled him during the scorching summers.

The peacefulness of the child's routines created much joy to those involved. However, this peace would not last long.

"We need a sacrifice," the village elder cried, "A sacrifice to appease the gods!"

There had been no rain for months and the crops had began to wither away form dehydration. While the villagers agreed with the elder, no one wanted to give up their child.

"Not my daughters," the villagers murmured among themselves, "Not my sons."

Despite the turmoil, one of the shouted, "Sacrifice the unlucky child! No one will miss it and the gods will be appeased!"

It took no less than a heartbeat for everyone to agree, after all, none of their children would have to be sacrificed and they would be able to get rid of their biggest pest.

"You will be sacrificed to the gods for the greater good of everyone," the village elder solemnly told the child, as if he wasn't sugarcoating the true reason, "Everyone will be happy and grateful for your sacrifice." As if he had a choice.

As the child was lead to the alter, the youkai hissed and snarled and growled. How dare the humans take what is theirs? He was their child, theirs to raise, theirs to protect. Yet, the child was to be given to the gods, where none dare to cross.

As days and nights passed, the bakeneko and yuki-oni promised the child a happier time in his next life.

"You may not always be happy, but it will be happier than now," they whispered, "You will be the child of ours, never parent-less, never cold, never hungry."

The child smiled through his tears. How can I every be more happy when I already have the two of you, he asked the youkai.

As the bakeneko and yuki-oni watched on, hearts in turmoil, the child took his last breaths and felt his eyes grow heavy. Sleep, he thought, will be nice.

* * *

The child marveled at the world that they had woken up in. Once upon a time, the abilities the people use - quirks - were thought to only be be wielded by only shaman and the kami. Now, even they had an ability. Ice, like the yuki-oni that once sung lullabies to the cursed child.

They wondered if their mother was related to the yuki-oni. Their father was very obviously part bakeneko. It was kinda sad how desperately he tried to hide it.

Twirling their white and red hair, they waited for the birth of their little brother. He would be the fourth child born into this household, they mused.

Their little brother was born with a song of ice and fire.

They are 10 when their littlest brother is born.

They are 14 when their littlest brother's quirk appears.

They are 18 when their mother snaps and burns their littlest brother.

They are 21 when they've had enough and stands between their littlest brother and their father.

They are 25 and they are so, _so_ proud.

As the UA festival starts, they watch from the stands as their littlest brother fights his way through a sea of people, unrelenting like ice and strong like fire.

"Fuyumi."

"Oh," they turn to face their father, "Are you here to watch Shouto as well?"

"Hmph."

"Ma, ma," they giggled, "It wouldn't hurt to cheer him on."

"... I suppose you're right."

Laughing, she turned around to face her father.

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

Watching as Todoroki Enji spluttered in embarrassment, Fuyumi sighed happily.

 _"You may not always be happy, but it will be happier than now."_

 _I suppose I am._


	6. Encyclopedia

**Kudos to anyone who gets the reference :)**

* * *

 _Neh, neh, Izu-chan~_

 _What?_

 _Who was the Shogun during 1360?_

 _..._

 _C'mon! Please, please, pleeeeaaase?_

 _Oh kami. Shut up! It was Ashikaga Yoshiakira. Why the heck are you asking me this at 3 AM?_

 _..._

 _Well? I'm waiting, fox._

 _Ehehehe... I kinda forgot to do my homework. And I don't wanna pull out my textbooks. And you don't sleep at night anyways, soooo..._

 _... What is my life anymore._

 _Thanks anyways, Izu-chan~_

* * *

"...and then I added a hashtag to it!"

Another day, another bunch of strange words. Izuku sighed, snuggling into his pillow. Maybe he should've brought a sun shade as well.

Noticing his (slight) confusion, Kachan explained, "It's the pound key, y'know the one that looks like the fucking number sign."

Oh. But isn't that...

"Isn't that the octotroph?"

"What?"

"What?"

Izuku stared back at the confused students of 1-A.

"I thought we were talking about hashtags?" Kaminari muttered to Kirishima, who in turn shrugged.

"Ah! That's true, it is called the octotroph," Iida exclaimed, "Your knowledge is admirable, Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku shrugged, tuning out the rest of the conversation. Kids and their strange terms.

* * *

 _It's possible._

 _What?_

 _"Prove that when a 100 sheets of paper 11.5cm long on each side will stack up perfectly when dropped from a height of three meters." It's completely possible._

 _How?_

 _Shouta, you just need to think outside the box._

 _What._

 _If its all glued together, then it'll be stacked perfectly when dropped from a height of three meters._

 _..._

 _Let's call it the sticky-bond theorem~_

 _What is wrong with you._

 _Everything. But you can thank Borin-sensei for that one._

 _Who?_

 _Nevermind, youngling._

 _... I am done with you._

 _There, there._

* * *

Hitoshi was a kitsune on a mission.

His traget? Izu-chan.

His goal? Answers.

"Midoriya," Hitoshi began, sliding into the seat front of the vampire, "I need your help."

The ancient vampire raised an eyebrow at the other, glancing up from his pile of pillows. ( _It looks sooo comfy... Focus Hitoshi!_ )

Sliding a piece of paper across the cafeteria table, ignoring the curious stares of the hero and gen-ed classes, Hitoshi did his best impression of being solemn.

"Oh kami, seriously?"

Nodding furiously, Hitoshi really wanted to hide in his tails, but since humans were around, he couldn't.

 _This is the fifth time this week. And it's only Tuesday._

 _Pleeeeeeaaaaaase! Izu-chan! Midnight's homework makes no sense!_

 _It is literally in your textbooks._

 _Izu-chan, don't be so cruel! Help a fox out!_

The "I Am So Done With You Look" that the Izu-chan shot him was so brutal. And true.

 _Pleeeaase, I'll being you a blood bag._

 _..._

 _Type-O, human blood!_

 _Tch. You've already answered most of it either way. The 250 to 538 AD was was the Kofun period and the book with the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan is the Nihon Shoki, also called the Nihongi._

 _Thank you~_

 _I expect that blood soon._

 _Of course!_

Grinning cheerfully, Hitoshi took back his homework and filled in the answers. Finally! He hated history so much, why was it so boring and repetitive?

Izu-chan went back to sleep.

* * *

The students surrounding the duo felt sweat dripping off their faces during the telepathic exchange. Just what the heck just happened between the 1-A kid and the creepy gen-ed kid?!


	7. Training

"... This isn't working."

"Not at all."

Awkward silence proceeded to follow. How exactly, are you supposed to train a vampire who's several thousand times your age?

"Why'd you even accept All-for-One in the first place? You don't even need it," Toshinori wondered.

"I thought it'd be amusing. What's a couple of decades playing hero compared to the millenniums I've spent raising younglings, after all," the green-haired vampire muttered, a tinge of red appearing on his cheeks. How was that even possible? The boy was more or less dead and didn't exactly have blood either!

"If I didn't know you as well as I currently do," Toshinori felt his sanity slip further, "I think I'd be mad. But I'm too exhausted to be mad. Or feeling anything."

"..."

"Should we- how do we even- how do I even explain this to Nedzu?!"

In front of the duo was one of the replica cities that UA had. Instead of the pristine buildings and a sense of cleanliness that most of UA had, there was nothing but a crater in the middle, spanning almost 200 kilometers in diameter and an unknown depth.

The two One-for-All users had been planning on working on control and output of said quirk. Key word: had.

Use your natural strength alongside the quirk, he said, try to put out as much power as you can, he said.

"... Maybe we should've worked on control first."

"Hm... At least I didn't break any bones this time, I suppose."

"Why did you even let your bones break in the first place?!"

"To play at human, of course."

Of course. Toshinori felt himself slip further and further into this insanity, thy name is Izuku.

Oh, boy. He wondered how Gran Torino would take this. A small spark of glee ignited at the thought of the general chaos called Izuku being someone else's problem.

Don't get him wrong, he loved the boy/vampire to death, but there was a limit on how much chaos his human brain could take on a daily basis.

"Let's try again, Izuku, but this time slower. Plus Ultra!"

"Alright. Plus ultra, I guess."


End file.
